If you want to make your website stand out, using CSS text effects is a great place to start. These effects can add a touch of personality to your content and make it more engaging for your visitors.
One way to create a striking text effect is to use the CSS `text-shadow` property. By adding a shadow to your text, you can create a sense of depth and make it stand out from the background.
A simple example of this is to add a shadow to a heading. For instance, `h1 { text-shadow: 2px 2px 4px #333; }` will add a subtle shadow to your headings, making them more noticeable.
Using CSS text effects can also help to create a sense of hierarchy on your website. By applying different effects to different levels of headings, you can create a clear visual hierarchy that guides the user's attention.
Text Effects
Text effects can add a whole new level of excitement to your website. You can create a custom font and position it behind the word "less" to create a striking animation, as seen in Example 1.
With CSS, you can also create multi-line text with a fat underline on hover, as shown in Example 2. This is achieved using only CSS, making it a great option for those who want a simple yet effective effect.
Using layered fonts and CSS properties, you can create fun text effects, such as shaded text or 3D text. For example, Example 3 shows a shaded text effect created using a SVG + CSS3 experiment, while Example 14 demonstrates a 3D text effect using CSS only.
Retro
Retro text effects are a great way to add some vintage flair to your website. They can be created using a variety of CSS properties, such as font-palette and font-variation-settings, which allow for a dynamic effect.
Benjamin Solum created a pure CSS retro text effect using mask-image, text-stroke, and background-clip properties. This effect can be seen in Example 2.
To achieve a retro look, you can also use multi-layered text effects, which combine drop shadows, text shadows, letter spacing, and font variations. This results in a visually interesting presentation, as seen in Example 1.
Here are some notable examples of retro text effects:
These examples showcase the creative possibilities of retro text effects, and you can use them as inspiration for your own projects.
Make the Web Less Boring
You can make the web less boring by incorporating visually interesting and interactive elements into your website. This can be achieved by using text properties like stroke and shadow, and transitions to create a striking animation. For example, the "Make the Web Less Boring" example demonstrates how to style the text "boring" with a custom font and position it behind the word "less." On hover, the "boring" text warps dramatically, creating a striking animation.
Custom font variations can be used to control the warping effect, making it a unique and visually appealing feature. This technique can be applied to various text elements, adding a touch of creativity to your website.
To create a similar effect, you can experiment with different CSS properties, such as text-stroke, text-shadow, and font-variation-settings. These properties can be combined to create a visually interesting presentation, like in the "Retro CSS Text Effect" example.
Here are some examples of text effects that can make the web less boring:
- Animated Blobs Text by using only CSS (Example 3)
- 3D Text with a realistic effect (Example 5)
- Text Line Animation with TweenMax.js (Example 6)
- Animated Underlines with pure CSS animation (Example 8)
- Smooth fade-in text animation (Example 9)
These examples demonstrate the power of creativity and experimentation in web design, allowing you to create unique and engaging text effects that capture users' attention.
Gooey Background
You can use this technique to create smooth edges around inline text with a background. This is especially useful when you want to draw attention to specific text elements on your page.
The gooey background effect can be customized to fit your design needs, allowing you to experiment with different colors and styles. This flexibility makes it a popular choice among designers.
By incorporating this effect into your text design, you can create a visually appealing and engaging visual experience for your audience.
Bouncing with Reflection
The Bouncing with Reflection text effect is a great way to add some visual interest to your website. It's made with only HTML and CSS, making it super portable across different websites.
This effect uses a span HTML element to position each letter in a row, which allows for some really cool animations. Be careful where you place it, though, because the bouncing effect can be a bit distracting.
One of the coolest things about this effect is that it's made with just HTML and CSS. This means you can easily add it to any website without having to worry about complicated coding.
Blobs
Blobs are a great way to add some visual interest to your text. Made with pure HTML and CSS, they're easy to customize to fit your brand and style.
You can change the colors and font types to make your blobs stand out. This subtle animation is sure to catch the eye of your visitors.
A very subtle CSS text animation is what makes Blobs so effective. It's not too flashy, but it's enough to make a statement.
With a colorful background and engaging font type, Blobs are a great choice for adding some personality to your text.
Repellers
Repellers are a fun text effect where the text moves away from the mouse movement. This effect can add a playful touch to your website or application.
The Repellers effect is demonstrated in a CodePen example by Johan Karlsson, where you can see the text repelling away from the mouse movement.
Paper Fold
The Paper Fold effect is a creative way to add depth to your text.
It involves creating 3D text with shadows, following the PS principle, which builds the text layer by layer.
Decorations
Decorations can add a lot of flair to your text. You can create hover effects that change the color of specific words, like using pre-defined variables to represent colors.
Using pre-defined variables makes it easier to maintain a consistent color scheme and modify colors globally. This is a great way to keep your design organized.
If you want to create a Word Carousel, you can use CSS to animate your text. The creator of this effect used CSS to create a fun and engaging text design.
You can also create a Multi Line Text Fat Underline Hover effect, which is perfect for highlighting important text. Animated Blobs Text is another cool effect that can be achieved using only CSS.
To add some depth to your text, you can use layered fonts. This is a great way to create a visually appealing effect. Shaded text can also be created using a combination of SVG and CSS3.
Reflections and Masks
The text-stroke attribute in CSS can be used to create a mask effect, as seen in the "Text Stroke CSS Mask Effect" example.
This attribute allows you to add a stroke to text, which can be used to create a variety of visual effects.
Reflections
Reflections can be a powerful design element in web development, and one example of this is a bouncing CSS text effect with a reflection, made with only HTML and CSS, which is very portable across different websites.
This effect uses a span HTML element to position each letter in a row, and bounces each one during the text animation.
You can create a similar effect on your website, but be careful where you place it, as it can be quite noticeable.
A key aspect of this effect is the use of reflection, which can add depth and visual interest to your design.
Stroke Mask
The Stroke Mask is a creative way to add visual interest to your design. It's created by using the CSS text-stroke attribute to overlay text and create a mask effect.
You can achieve this effect with just a few lines of code, making it a great option for designers who want to add some flair without getting too complicated.
The Text Stroke CSS Mask Effect is a great example of how this works. It's a simple yet effective way to add a new dimension to your text.
By experimenting with different stroke widths and colors, you can create a unique and eye-catching effect that adds depth to your design.
In/Out of Focus
This In/Out of Focus text effect is a unique pure CSS animated effect that's worth checking out. It's a great option for those looking for something a bit different.
Here’s another unusual pure CSS animated text effect that's available to see on CodePen.
SVG
SVG is a powerful tool for creating unique text effects in CSS. You can use an SVG to highlight a single word within a block of text, and the size of the SVG will flex to fit the word.
This approach also allows you to handle semantics with a tag. For example, you can use an SVG to create an original border animation around each of the letters of your text.
Updating your text is as easy as updating the text element in the HTML. This makes it a great choice for animations, like the one in the "14. SVG Text Effect" example, where the text fill is animated to create a shimmering neon effect.
Background Effects
You can create some amazing background effects with CSS and SVG filters. Using a gooey SVG filter can create smooth edges around inline text with a background.
For instance, you can use a gooey SVG filter to create a background effect that looks like a cloud. This is achieved by applying a gooey filter to the text element.
If you want to apply a background to a text without messing with the text itself, you can use the `background-clip:text` and `fill-text-color: transparent` properties. This will allow you to apply a background to the text while keeping the text itself transparent.
Inline Background
Creating an inline background can be a bit tricky, but it's doable with the right techniques. Using skew is only rendered if the item is display: block or inline-block.
You might notice some examples that use skew to create a cloud-like effect, but keep in mind that these can fail when the viewport width is decreased. Moving cloud text with HTML and CSS is a great example of this.
If you want a more subtle effect, you can try using a gooey SVG filter to create smooth edges around inline text with a background. This is a great option if you're looking for a more modern and sleek look.
For a more straightforward approach, you can use the background-clip:text CSS effect, which allows you to apply a background to a text. This is achieved by using background-clip: text and fill-text-color: transparent.
Video Background
Using a video as a background effect can add a dynamic and engaging element to your design. This can be achieved by looping a YouTube video as the fill, as demonstrated in the "Text With Video Background" demo.
You can create knockout text/paths in SVG, which can be used as a background for your video. This technique is explored in the "Text With Video Background" demo.
To incorporate a video background, you'll need to use SVG and a video source, such as a YouTube video.
Color and Gradients
You can create visually interesting scrolling effects by utilizing CSS scroll-driven animations, such as the Scroll Driven Gradient Reveal Text effect, which applies a creative radial gradient background with transparent text.
For a more modern look, you can use a gradient to send a colorful transition of different colors across the text, giving it a modern look, as seen in the Text Colour Animation Effect.
If you want to keep things simple, you can use a Static CSS Colour Change effect, which changes the color of each word without any transition, making it great for a big title in a minimalistic design.
Gradient Reveal
Gradient Reveal is a technique that uses CSS scroll-driven animations to create dynamic effects based on scroll position. It's a great way to add some visual interest to your website.
You can apply a creative radial gradient background with transparent text, as seen in the Scroll Driven Gradient Reveal Text example. This creates a visually interesting scrolling effect that's sure to grab users' attention.
For a more modern look, you can use a gradient to send a colorful transition of different colors across the text, giving it a modern look. This is easily achievable with pure HTML and CSS, as shown in the Text Colour Animation Effect example.
The Animated highlight text reveal example features interactive animations and a clean, modern design, making it a great option for users who want to add some interactivity to their website.
If you're looking for a simple and clean text animation, the CSS TEXT REVEALING ANIMATION example is worth checking out. It's a great option for users who want a minimalist look.
You can also use a multi-colour gradient clipped with CSS, blended with SVG's feGaussianBlur, as seen in the Twenty Twenty & Multi-Color Gradients example. This creates a unique and eye-catching effect that's sure to stand out.
Stripy Rainbow
Stripy Rainbow text effects can be achieved without lots of repeating markup by using data-attributes and pseudo elements. This technique allows for a fun and creative way to add visual interest to text.
Playing around with different CSS properties is a great way to create unique effects. By experimenting with various combinations, you can achieve striking results like the horizontal striped rainbow text.
Using data-attributes and pseudo elements also makes it easy to customize the appearance of the text. This means you can adjust the colors, spacing, and other details to fit your design needs.
This method is particularly useful for creating eye-catching headings or titles. By adding a pop of color and visual interest, you can draw attention to important information and enhance the overall user experience.
Static Colour Change
Static Colour Change is a great way to add some visual interest to your design. This effect can be used for a big title, changing the color of each word without any transition.
It's perfect for a minimalistic design, as it doesn't add any extra clutter. Made purely with HTML and CSS, the animation can easily be changed in color and speed.
You can try it yourself by modifying the CSS of the codepen, and see how it works. This effect is useful if you want to draw attention to specific words or phrases in your design.
Featured Images: pexels.com